PRICE
,
CHARLES
(d.
1646
), of
Pilleth, Rads.
,
soldier and politician
,
was probably a younger son of
JamesPrice
, who had fought in the
Elizabethan wars
and was
Member of Parliament
for
Radnorshire
,
1624-6
, and grandson of the
StephenPrice
, who had represented the county in
1555
, his family being a branch of the
Prices
of
Monachdy
, one of the two oldest families in the county, who had shared between them the county offices and parliamentary representation. He inherited his father's military bent, and in
1619
acted as second to
SirRobertVaughan
of
Llwydiarth
(q.v.)
when the latter challenged
lord Herbert of Cherbury
(q.v.)
to a duel, which was stopped by
James
I
. Next year he represented the borough in
Parliament
, where he took a strong line over monopolies, parliamentary privilege , and the maintenance of the Protestant ascendancy, and he was re-elected in
1624
. In
1625
he went to
Ireland
as
captain
of the
Radnorshire and Brecknockshire Militia
, but returned in time to sit for
Radnor
in
Charles
I
's first three Parliaments, where he was equally critical of the court (which may account for his citation before the council on
22 Oct. 1626
); but he interested himself also in the
army
and in
Welsh
measures. On
18 July 1627
he took out recruits to
SirCharlesMorgan
(q.v.)
for his
Staden campaign
; he was also with the army at
Portsmouth
when
Buckingham
was
assassinated
(
28 Aug. 1628
), and brought the first news to
Charles
I
. In the stormy session of parliament (
1629
) following the
Petition of Right
, he stood strongly for moderation. In
1637
he became
deputy steward
for
Rhayader
to the
4th earl of Pembroke
(q.v.)
, whose family he had generally followed in politics, and next year he was again on service in
Ireland
, whence he petitioned the council in pursuance of his claims against the
Monachdy estate
, on which he had redeemed mortgages to keep it in the family. His name is conspicuously absent from the muster rolls of the
Bishops’ Wars
(
1639-40
). In the
Short and Long Parliaments
he sat for the county, and in the latter he again
served on the committee for privileges
, was
teller for the ayes
in the division on the
Root and Branch Bill
for the abolition of episcopacy, and helped to formulate the charges against
secretaryWindebank
, but opposed the attainder of
Strafford
. He was active in measures for suppressing the
Irish rebellion
(
Nov. 1641
) and was nominated by the Commons for a
commission in the army
sent to suppress it. On the outbreak of
Civil War
at home, however, he
helped to put the royal commission of array into force
in
Radnorshire
, and was the first
Welsh
member to be ‘disabled’ from sitting (
4 Oct. 1642
). He was captured and imprisoned at
Gloucester
(
Nov. 1642
) and
Coventry
(
Jan. 1643
), but subsequently released and attended the
Oxford Parliament
(
22 Jan. 1644
). He was
killed (apparently in a duel
— see
Lord George Digby's Cabinet
,
23 March 1646
)
before May 1645
, and his family never enjoyed the
Monachdy estate
which he had been promised on his lending £1,000 to the
king
. His widow compounded for
Pilleth
in
1653
. He was a friend and correspondent of
JamesHowell
(q.v.)
.